JAY WEINSTEIN | PHOTOGRAPHER

These Photos Will Change 

The Way You Look At Strangers

Jay Weinstein is an India/Australia based, Hindi-speaking photographer and travel guide. He has it on good authority that he is of Australian-American-Ukrainian-English heritage, which is not as dramatic as it sounds. He has lived and traveled extensively in India and Nepal working to retain his sense of humor and inner child. So far, so good. In Australia, he regularly collaborates with The Sacred India Gallery in Perth, Western Australia.

 “December 2013. I was on a photography trip to Bikaner, in the deserts of Rajasthan, India. Near the busy train station, I saw a man I wanted to photograph. I hesitated. The look in his eye and his stony, stern look intimidated me. It's always that moment of hesitation that kills a shot! I ended up avoiding him and photographing other subjects until I heard his jovial voice, "Take my picture too!".

Camera lens focused, my finger poised to fire. 'Smile', I called out. And he was transformed. His face radiated warmth, his eyes sparkled with a humor I had completely missed. Even his posture softened. I knew then what my next project would be. So I asked them to smile was born. I wanted to document the effect of the human smile on a strangers face.

In the days, months and years that followed, I asked random people on my photography adventures (mostly on the streets of India) to pose unsmiling and with a smile. These images are the heart of my project. Its goal is to recreate the mindset from which we view a stranger, and then witness as our assumptions transform with their smile.

So there are no names. No occupations. No confirmed religions or ethnicity. No intriguing life lessons or heart strumming anecdotes. Just one human face. Without, and with a smile.”

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All images © Jay Weinstein

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